Chapter 9

“Always trust your instincts, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Shannon

~~~

Our seven-month-old relationship had evolved much more than I visualized. It was the first serious courtship I had ever been in and everyone around us believed it would lead to marriage. I didn’t know what to think of that, constantly brushing it off whenever anyone brought it up.

“I’m meeting up with Kayleigh for lunch, do you want to come with?” I asked Matthew.

“I have a board meeting, remember?” He quit rummaging through his box of files to look at me.

“Oh, it slipped my mind. What are you looking for?” I stretched my neck to look into the box.

“It’s nothing important, just a file Granny entrusted to me.”

“Should I help?” I made to stand from the couch and join him on the floor but he protested. “No! I’m fine.”

I sat back, giving him a skeptical look, he’d been acting weird for the past weeks. Something was amiss, but he wouldn’t tell me anything no matter how many times I asked. It was time I looked into it.

“I didn’t mean to yell at you.” Standing up, he took the few steps between us and sat beside me.

“What’s up with you?”

“That question again, it’s nothing. I’m just stressed with work, that’s all.” He pulled me towards him and made me lie on his lap. “Do you mind sleeping over again today?”

“You know I can’t,” I argued. My parents already did me a favor when they let me spend two nights a week at Matthew’s house. It wasn’t easy getting my father's approval cause he rarely trusted any man to look after me. Plus, he still didn’t like Matthew but had to let me be, I was a full-grown adult after all.

“Alright then, but you could just move in with me to save all this hassle,” he suggested.

“Why would you even say a thing like that?” I glared at him, pushing his hand away when he began running circles on my thighs.

“Cause I want to spend more time with you,” he whined.

“Then do it the right way! I can’t just move in with you like it’s no big deal. Until we get married, you better forget it.” My tone was rigid and gave no room for argument.

“Okay, I understand.” He traced his hand back to my thighs and leaned in to kiss me but his phone’s ringtone stopped him halfway.

He took one peek at it and slightly nudged me so I could get off him. “I need to take this,” he said whilst walking out of the living room to the affixed balcony.

My intuition had me quickly tiptoeing to the window which was adjacent to the open door that led to where he was standing, whispering to the caller. “Is it that bad?” he asked and went silent for a few seconds before saying, “Alright, I’m on my way.” I didn’t care that it was improper to eavesdrop, he’d given me no other choice with his outlandish behavior.

“What’s up?” I asked immediately he cut the call. He jerked back and placed his hand on his chest. “You scared me!”

“Sorry. What’s going on?”

“I have to go.” He leaned on the rails because he had nowhere else to go, I was blocking his path from getting back inside.

“Yeah, I heard,” I confessed, hoping it would push him to open up.

“You did?” His eyes rounded to saucers and I crossed my arms when his answer added to my misgiving. “Who were you talking to?”

“Relax.” He let out a low cackle. “I’m not cheating on you, I was just talking to my grandma.” He brought out his phone and passed it over to me. My gaze lingered on his outstretched hand for a few seconds before taking it and confirming his claim.

“Getting cheated on is the last thing on my mind right now.” I lifted his phone in the air. “This is where the problem lies, why would you hide to talk to your grandma? You’ve not done it once nor twice, you must be doing something shady.”

He took a deep breath and looked down the street. From where I was standing, I could see people going about their businesses, cars driving by, and kids joyfully playing at the playground a few meters away. It was a sunny day and I wished we could go out on a picnic or something, but that was far from reality where Matthew had to work more than he needed to. We were barely living together yet this was the result. Envisioning what would happen if we were to get married and have kids weakened my knees.

“I like to talk in private while discussing business matters.” He directed his gaze back at me, closed the distance between us, and encircled his hands around me. “Look, you’re just being paranoid. I wouldn’t do anything that would thwart this beautiful life we have. What are you even accusing me of? I don’t understand.”

I shrugged, suddenly feeling ridiculous for stressing over an issue that probably didn’t even exist. “I don’t know, you’ve not been yourself lately. You’ve been sneaky.”

“That’s all?” I nodded. He cracked up, spinning me around so we could get inside.

“I’ll try not to act weird again,” he said, excusing himself to the bedroom. Once he was changed and ready for work, he bid me farewell and went on his way.

The disarrayed files in the box called to me and I didn’t waste time going through them page after page. They contained his paint business and something else I couldn't fathom. After making a call to Kayleigh, I gathered the files that came off as vague and put them in the bag I was going out with before stashing the rest back in their place and sauntering out of the apartment.